Battery assemblies for uninterruptable power supplies and telecommunication systems are known. Such battery assemblies conventionally utilize lead acid, nickel cadmium or other types of battery cells which are mounted in a support frame and electrically connected together. However, the known assemblies have generally been designed to accommodate a fixed number of battery cells.
It would be desirable to provide a sleeve frame design for assembling batteries together to provide an uninterruptable power supply which can be used to accommodate a varying number of battery cells, and which is usable in seismic zones. It would also be desirable to provide a system such that compression is developed uniformly across the cells as the cells heat up during use. It would also be desirable to provide improved air flow around the cells by creating an air flow space between modules as well as between battery sleeves.
Briefly stated, the present invention comprises a frame assembly for receiving and supporting batteries in at least one horizontal row. The frame assembly comprises a pair of generally parallel spaced apart, aligned base supports, each base support having a front end and a rear end. Four vertical corner supports, including a front pair and a rear pair are provided. A first end of each corner support is secured to one of the base supports with the front pair of corner supports being generally equally spaced from the rear pair of corner supports. At least one pair of horizontal supports are provided, including a front horizontal support and a rear horizontal support. Each horizontal support has two ends, with each end of each front horizontal support being secured to one of the corner supports of the front pair of corner support and with each of each of the rear horizontal supports being secured to one of the corner supports of the rear pair of corner supports. The horizontal supports are both secured at each end to the corner supports at a first predetermined distance from the base supports. The first predetermined distance is established so that at least one battery may be supported by the pair of horizontal supports to establish a first horizontal battery row.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises a sleeve for receiving a battery. The sleeve comprises a top panel with a connected side panel extending from a first side and a first lip extending from a second side thereof. The sleeve further includes a bottom panel with a connected side panel extending from a second side and a second lip extending from a first side thereof. A rear panel includes a third lip extending from a first side and a fourth lip extending from a second side thereof. The top panel lip extends over and engages at least a portion of the second side panel and the bottom panel lip extends and engages at least a portion of the first side panel. The third lip of the rear panel extends over and engages at least a portion of the first side panel and the fourth lip of the rear panel extends over and engages at least a portion of the second side panel.